Never Gonna Give You Up
by InuyashaSano
Summary: Kagome, a slaved princess who has lost her voice. Inuyasha, a shunned prince who lives out on his own. Inuyasha in a turn of events takes Kagome under his wing, besides the whole fact that he has never been close to a woman before. Will Kagome ever speak?
1. Chapter 1

**Alright. This is a ROLEPLAY that me and someone else is doing. It just was organized in a way that we could have copied and pasted it and it would look like a fan fiction. Since I'm really proud of this RP, I wanted to post it up. Chapters are going to be sort due to stretching for MORE CHAPTERS and plus we're still in the midst of roleplaying in the beginning… ^_^;;**

**Please enjoy**

Ugh. This sucked. He had to go out and buy more rice and food. And plus some of the flooring in his hut need patching up..Oh. And his futon was tearing in two. Also his door was falling off the hinges. Great. Well, since being a _hanyou_ and all, naturally he had to put on his purple cloak and hood and tie back his hair so no one would notice he was a hanyou. Luckily it was a village full of human so they wouldn't be able to smell the stench of a hanyou that he was. He tried to keep his hood as low as he could so no one could see his golden eyes. But the village was full of thieves and idiots, no one suspected him much. He first went off to get a bunch of rice from the food stands of the village. He might as well get some barley too...Oh and some melons... By the time he was finished grocery shopping, he was holding about 20 pounds of food. He always did this, being in the wild, if he ran out of food then he had to hunt. Plus his father sent him some money sometimes so he could survive out there. 'Better then being in that fucking palace, it's so free being alone. No worries, no responsibility…' A dark harsh voice rattled in the air that Inuyasha's ears perked up at. 

**"COME ON WENCH! GET UP!" **The clack of a whip resonated in the air. It lashed across the graceful and delicate skin of a young maiden, one clothes poorly and rather starved. She had long black hair that hung in her face as she fell to the ground on all fours, a lowly dog against the crowd that grew around. her eyes stared dimly at the ground, it's luster the same as her iris'. She stayed there, unmoving, hardly breathing, making no sound... But if you listened closely, you could hear her heart quivering.

Inuyasha scoffed at the act. 'Slaves...peh. None of my business.' He looked at the food hung over his back and decided that he would come back later for supplies to do some patchment on his hut. Right when he was going to take a step forward, the voice rang out again.

"I said, MOVE! Bitch! Do what your master fucking tells you to do? Do you hear me? Are you fucking DEAF wench?!" The big tanned man has a bushy stache that flared up with his angry steam of air coming out of his nostrils.  
"You will follow my orders...now...or I won't give you any mercy later...do you understand me?" The man kicked her down. "Get up."

The girl, once more on the ground, clenched her teeth. The slash on her back was bruising quickly; it had been a not-too-serious warning type attack. She heavily picked herself up off the floor, now visibly glaring at the man's feet from the corners of her eyes. She stood, wavered a bit, dizzy as she was, and then in an attempt to escape, made a run for it.. Into the crowd.

"HEY!" The man roared. He growled like a bear in his anger and charged his wide heavy body into the crowd. "GET HER!" He kept on screaming, hoping he would find someone to take a hold of her. 'Luckily she's weak, she won't be able to go on forever!'

Inuyasha started to walk off, ignoring the slave episode he had to witness. I mean, it happened all of the time around there. That was a slave hotspot where anyone could get any slave they wanted for a penny price. 'Dad wanted me to have a slave out here.'

He, of course, refused. He didn't want anything to cramp the way that he was living. Free, no worries, responsibilities, expectations, or people. He could not stand people. All of his life, every person, human, demon, had treated him like crap. They had talked behind his back when he was at the palace, spat at his feet or face when his father did not see. Keh. His father didn't even care. He probably thought since he was born this way, he should take the responsibilities of being this way.

"Hmph!" 'Well fine then, let me have no responsibilities now. Being alone...the best thing that's ever happened to me.' He stopped walking as he heard footsteps coming in his direction. There were a bunch of people where he was at, trying to auction for the slave that were being put up. 'Who's running?'

She was running mad, blindly pushing and shoving through the people, freedom barely within her grasp. She heard shouts and felt hands nearly miss yanking strands of her hair back. She had to get away, up in a tree, out of range, out of view, far from sight. She couldn't let it go on like this. 'A princess was never meant to be treated so doggedly..' she thought venomously to herself, before all thoughts flew from her mind as she crashed into a body. She fell back, holding her head in pain, looking up at the brick she'd mistakenly rammed into. But this was no brick.

A body flew at him, and he stumbled backwards at the sudden and unexpected contact. He almost lost his grip on his huge sacks of food he was carrying. A small melon fell out and crushed on impact on the ground. "HEY! Watch i-" He looked down and saw a bleeding woman on the ground. 'It's that slave...so she decided to run anyways.'

"HEY! Where'd dat bitch get off'ta?" The slave owner called out. Inuyasha peered out through the crowds and saw the man getting closer. 'I should give her back to him,' Inuyasha thought. But when he looked down at the girl, the girl gave him a...look.

The girl, brushing her head, looked up at the man who was not a brick. This hooded figure, shrouded in a large purple cloak.. Who wasn't moving to grab her at all, it struck her as curious. Still, she heard her 'master' yelling to the people, governing them with his commands to continue searching for her. Without any other choice, she dove into the man's cloak and hid beneath him, grasping one of his legs and cowering slightly. She was, however, glad to be out of sight at last. Though, truth be told, it was the strangest of hiding places. 'Please, don't give me away...' she prayed silently, for her voice had been long lost.

He was startled when the woman had suddenly dove in his cloak. "H-hey! What are you...!" She was shaking, grabbing onto one of his legs for dear life. He wouldn't be able to move unless he calmed her down, or tore her away.

"GOD DAMN IT! FIND HER! FIND IT!"

(I should...I have to give her back. I'm not going take responsibility for this girl.) The voices came closer. Closer. His grip on his woven sacks tightened. (Alright, I have to do this.) Closer... She gripped even harder at his leg. He just noticed how small she would have had to be to be under there without being seen clearly. The man was close enough to be practically screaming into his ears. Inuyasha clenched at his jaw, turning his head slightly to see the man, going right past him.

"I KNOW YOU'RE HERE BITCH! You can't run forever!...Heh heh heh!"

(She has to go.) Inuyasha opened his mouth. "Hey." He called out to the man. The man turned around.

"What do YOU want? Can you see I'm busy here!?" Inuyasha pointed down.

"Watch out where you're going." The slave owner looked down where he was pointing. A small melon was crushed and crumbled where the man had went past him. The man just growled and turned around continuing his search. Inuyasha did something that he couldn't believe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh I just want everyone to know that the idea for this Roleplay is based off another fanfiction I had read and I had wanted to use the idea a little differently with my friend. So I apologize if I 'stole' someones idea. v.v**

The girl stayed beneath her tent, not releasing the stronghold that gave her this circus-like protection. Though she did loosen her grip when the beastly human ran by, her chest hurting from the pressure of her death grip. But now that the danger had gone, there was one thing: What would this new stranger do with her?

She pushed it out of her head immediately, not letting appreciation and gratitude for being kept secret take over her thought process. Her plan? Escape. And with that in her thoughts, she once more dove away, out of the shadows, into the light, and then tumbling awkwardly into the nearby bushes, entangling herself. Sexily, though. She had forgotten one thing: It does not do well to run blindly when you know not the area, the terrain, nor the place you currently find yourself in.

Inuyasha was taken aback by the woman's sudden burst out through his cloak. "God damn!" he yelled out. She had managed to stumble into the terrain nearest to them, and got her damn diddily self stuck with her small knees tucked together as her ripped tatters gave way to some bruised skin. He looked away for a moment, creeped with a small blush. 'I should leave her here. She already got herself out of the slave masters grasp.'

He was about to turn the other way when that voice roared again.

"SHE MUST OF HID SOMEWHERE! SEARCH THE VILLAGE!"

'Fuck I hate that voice!'

He looked behind him and a bead of sweat trinkled down his cheek as a thought that his body strongly wanted to do hit him. He grinded his teeth. 'D-damn it...curse this human side of me…' He jumped over to her in the bushes still holding his sack of things, picked up the frail womanly body, holding her to his chest under his cloak and escaped through the brush of the forest terrain.

The girl was picked up from the bushes and run away with. Her face contorted in pain as the bush branches cut small scratches in her arms and legs. It had also tugged at her hair. Oh, how she longed for a nice warm bath. She'd been given a rough towel slapping before coming to be auctioned, but that didn't suit the needs of a princess. Though her clothes were rather torn, she didn't feel the slightest of cold. She was, after all, being cuddled against the warm body of another. Subconsciously, she wrapped her arms around the man's head, though doing such caused his cloak to slacken and fall away from his face. She didn't see, however, for her face was buried in his neck. She was rather lost with the moment, especially in her delirium.

The dark green bushels of forest sped in blurs past him as he jumped and ran past the thick parts of the trees and bushes, getting onto the direction of his 'home'. He jumped higher, and higher, up above the trees to get a sense of where he was going. His mind was spinning, confused, his actions were so quick and devious against his thoughts, his common sense, his ability to shrug off situations. But he had to go off and snatch a slave away, away from it's rightful owner. That was a crime, and if he was found out then he would be punished. Add to that, he shouldn't have been in a human village in the first place. He knew that this woman was going to bring trouble. When? Possibly when he had stuff falling out of his sack because of her. But even with all that, when she had pressed herself more against him, delicate hands around his neck and a soft breath against his neck that made him shudder, the bloodied stench of someone in need of hospitality, he couldn't help tightening his hold on her.

____________

They had made it to his hut. He had thrown his tied bags of food at through the broken door way. And she was still there, in his arms, asleep. 'I should wake her, but…' He studied her face, wondering if he should wake her or let her stay in his house. 'If I wake her, she'll try to run away.' He huffed. 'Not that I care if she get's herself killed or captured again.'

But his human heart dreaded thinking about what would happen if he had carelessly let her go, so he brought her in and put her on his old, worn futon.

_______________________

Hands came from everywhere, grabbing her arms, her legs, ripping her limbs from her body. She screamed a silent shriek, but couldn't get away. ... And then her eyes opened, threatening to pop from her head as she flew into a seated position, tearing at the air before her. Her breath came in great swallows, deep inhaling, a tortured motion for her tortured body. She held her head steady, for it would have sooner fallen back onto the worn futon she suddenly had come to find herself in. Confused, she spent a moment recollecting her thoughts that had gone a muck since her collapse.

'I... I fainted? .... Warm.. Something warm..' and with that, the mute girl took a turn to look around her proximity... And froze, when she saw that cloaked figure sitting in front of her, at the edge of the futon; her only warmth.

'Oh, she's awake.'

"Finally you woke up!' he scoffed. He stayed in his sitting position with his hands in his sleeves, his hood was put back on over his head to keep from the slave woman to identify his race. Because he trusted no one, and she would most likely report on a dirty hanyou like him. He glared at her from the corner of his eye, waiting for her to speak.

She stared at him, clearly confused. She seemed to have not heard correctly. 'Did he.. Just speak to me normally?' The girl would obviously be thought of as an idiot in this text when being read by the public, but she was not so. Her justification for such a remark would be that she'd been yelled at day in and day out since her kidnapping/encapturement. She curtly nodded, sort of glaring at him as she suspiciously pulled the futon's blanket up to cover herself better. She still wasn't properly clothed, and did not want to be stared upon by a dark, mysterious stranger who for some odd reason wore a large, gaudy purple cloak.

He studied her as she began to move out of under the enclosement of the thin woven blanket. Her long, thin legs revealed themselves as it was apparent that torn short shorts of cloth was the only thing protecting her bottom parts. It was easy for him not to pay much mind, but when he averted his eyes upward, it was almost torn completely. His rare blush crept back again and he probably could have almost had a nosebleed from the unfamiliarity of being around any woman. 'She'll be gone soon anyways, it won't be a problem.' He was not going to take care of her in any way, shape, or form.

_'Too late, she's in your bed.'_

'CRAAAAAP.' He stood up, deciding to try to find something for her to wear anyways. "Stay here." He said sternly as he walked off into the other room.

Instantaneously, she reached out to grab his cloak, for he was her safe guard against the beastly man and the grabbing hands, and her terror-inducing nightmares plagued her thoughts once more from the moment he stood to vacate the premises, and leave her alone. However, she blatantly missed.


	3. Chapter 3

While he was searching for something that could be used to wear as clothing, his mind assaulted him.

'Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck FUUUCCCKK! '

Why did he bring her in here? Why did he take her away?

'She needs to leave as soon as POSSIBLE!' He growled, showing his clenching teeth. 'I can't do this! I was alone, perfectly able to take care of myself with no worries! I CAN'T have her here. Alright, first thing tomorrow she's being cartered off to the next village!'

He couldn't help but notice how light she had been when he had been carrying her all the way here. Of course, she wasn't getting the right nutrition she needed. No one expected a slave owner to give such generous attention to a slave. Should he feed her?

'I can at least give her some energy to go out on her own in the next village, who knows. She might be able to go home free.'

Although Inuyasha knew better than to expect for her to have a place to 'go home' to. He sighed heavily, finding an extra one of his white bed yukatas for her to clothe in. 'It's not my place to worry where she goes as long as she's gone. Besides, it would be...difficult having a woman all of a sudden…'

He shook his head from CONSIDERATION that he MIGHT'VE let her stay! He came back with a few fruit in his hand and the yukata in the other, frowning...frustrated.

The girl had been trying to steady herself, obviously not doing well. She had become slightly anemic, and feverish with all the lack of nutrition. Her once beautiful body had become a tad too shameful for her liking. If she could only get some food, she'd get back a more curvaceous form of herself.

'Like how I was before the bruises and new scars...' she thought miserably, for it was all she could do. She laid back down, her head giving her too much of a headache to continue sitting up. She seemed to be all right with the stranger, though she was still suspicious of his cloaking. What did he have to hide, unless he, too, was a runaway slave?! The thought instantly made her smile, for having a friend was better than not. At least, having someone who could understand her situation. The man returned, though in his arms he held... Food? And fruit, of all things! She had not had such delicacies since.. Well, since she'd been kidnapped. And what was... A white yukata? She was still smiling from her earlier thoughts, but it was growing a bit confused. She didn't move from her tense position on the worn futon, gripping tightly to the blanket that shielded her from his eyes. 'He.. He's not going to.. F-Forcefully dress me?!'

He watched her as she seemed, uncomfortable; looking at the food and the yukata; then back at his face with a certain wariness. He stopped before the girl that was keeping her eyes on him, and threw the yukata to her. "Get dressed, I figured that being in...uhhh...that would be...well, just get dressed. Here..."

He lay down the pieces of fruit on her bed. There was a few strawberries, an apple, a pear, and a melon. He got a good look at her face when he had placed them down. '...She needs a bath...I should give her one before she leaves too.'

He was examining the woman before him for a while.

The girl was uncomfortable. Though the hospitality was nice, a clean bed, a new yukata, and fresh food, she wasn't quite sure what to do.. Not to mention the fact that he wasn't leaving the room so she could change. 'So that's how it's going to be, eh?' she muttered in her mind, glaring at him. With some difficulty, for she was badly bruised around her mid line, the girl sat up and began to lift her tattered (what was once a) shirt up over her head. Her face betrayed a blush, even while she glared to the side at the ground of the enclosure.

She was going to undress. In front of him. 'Just a slave...nothing to get excited over…' He could barely see her, she was turned around. He wasn't going to see much, it was just a woman putting on his yukata. A woman that happened to be in his house, a woman that was on his bed, a woman that had a mature body and... 'Agh! No, it's just her ba..a...aaaa...ck…'

He couldn't help staring at the puss infested wound that was on her back, it had stopped bleeding a while ago, but her moving had caused it to bleed a bit more. He sat in silence as he took on the silent guilt he felt for her, also past memories assaulted him of people treating him...like that when he was small...

The girl painfully shrugged into the yukata, grimacing a little. It was nice, clean, a simple thing and yet so beautiful compared to what she'd been forced into the past week. She tied it snugly around her abdomen, revealing how truly skinny she had become. The fact depressed her, and she did not turn nor stir to look back at the man.

Inuyasha watched as she winced and struggled into the thing, although when she got it on, she looked happy to have something covering her. Before he could stop his mouth opening, he asked, "So, what's your name?"

'Shit.'

Asking someones name was a formality that he didn't want to bother himself with; he was afraid it was going to lead him doing something stupid. Oooh, like, not giving her away in time. But he had to say...it was kind of nice looking at a woman.

The girl remembered she was not alone. Slowly, she had been drifting away into a fantasy realm, a dream-like state. She came back to her harsh reality and turned to face it. Or rather, him. He had asked her a simply question, but it was no simple task in answering. She looked pained, her eyebrows pulled together slightly. Her hands came up to hover in the air as she pretended to write something, then shot the man a quizzical look. She hoped he would understand. She had been shocked out of words the day she'd been taken away.

She was making strange gesters in the air towards him. Wait... Did this mean she couldn't speak? 'Oh that's terrific.' He sighed and shook his head; looked back up at her and had an irritated look as he spoke, "Look, I don't want to have to take care of you. What I'm going to do is get you cleaned up and take you to a different village. You can go wherever you want, but I can't have you here." Truthfully, he had been longing another companion lately, but hell was he going to have some random slave with him, plus she couldn't even speak!

She looked hurt. Bowing her head forward a little, she looked away from him, placing her empty hands together on her lap. Strands of her hair fell into her face, but she made no motion to move them away or put them behind her ears. She sighed silently as well. The food sat ignored.

He stood up making sure his hood kept his eyes covered in it's shadow, and kneeled down next to her. "Hey, but you need to eat or else you won't be able to survive out there." He picked up the apple and handed it to her.

She faced him, a blank look staring him in the face. Then, ever so slowly, she reached her hand up, motioning towards the apple... But at the last second, it went for his cloak hood.

He just sat there. And his hood was down. He clenched the apple in his hands at the frustration. He should've pushed her away when her hands were on the hood, but a piece of himself probably wanted her to find out. A piece of him knew she was going to find out. And he was getting tired of wearing that smelly cloak anyways.

Her eyes widened considerably. Dog ears protruding from long, flowing white hair.. Golden eyes. She still held the cloak hood, so she was extremely close to his face. The eyes were intriguing, something about them almost animalistic. They held her gaze, and then she couldn't look at them any longer. She broke eye contact, but her hands gripped tightly still. She was afraid and didn't understand, but she was calm and confident.

Then the idea struck her: Demons living in the area. Humans living in the area. Said demons and humans coming together... She'd heard of what were called 'half-breeds' before, and she wondered if she'd possibly run into one, but he was so human-like as well. 'It would explain how I was carried here..' she thought, retracing her memories of the morning. A lone finger went and touched his lip, gently pushing it up to reveal canine-like fangs.

He was scared, no...it was more like...anxious. She wouldn't be able to tell anyone there was a Hanyou here, she wouldn't be able to send him away like any other woman would have. But most of all, he was intrigued. She was examining him, touching him even with a child-like innocence. She didn't scream or hit him away, she wasn't running, and she didn't at all appear upset. Not like she could have screamed. He swatted her hand away from his mouth and avoided her eyes that suddenly had lit up at the sight she saw.

'It's better than seeing her eyes dull and empty... she looks kind of cute like thi-'

He gently pushed her away from him, avoiding such thoughts from happening. "So, do you know what I am now?"

She was pushed away. And it hurt her body, being moved like that. Her face soured, letting out a 'mmph' sound. She wanted to pet his hair, feel his ears, touch his skin. He was different, she could tell, and it made everything different. 'Maybe he's not like everyone else, out in the villages... Maybe he wouldn't give me away,' she thought hurriedly, excitedly. She couldn't answer his question, but she pretty much understood. She nodded, a small gesture, before reaching out to grab his hand again.

She did a strange thing, holding his hand like that. Why did she do it? Was she thanking him? Silently begging for him to let her stay? Or a way of saying that his secret was safe with her? It was a strange feeling, his hand being held. It felt...warm. Slightly fuzzy on the inside. He didn't like it. Or moreover, he didn't like what his mind was doing right now. 'I can't, I can't. I won't take her in. She'll just be a bother.' He violently took his hand away and stood up quickly. He tried giving her a stern look, but it came out slightly pained. He started walking outside rather quickly.


	4. Chapter 4

She had been looking at his coarse hand, his knuckles, and the claws at each finger. Yet he took it back gruffly, too quickly, and she had no time to compare it to her own. As he began to walk away, she too stood, though weakly. As she tried to quickly follow him, for fear of losing him, she wobbled upon her uneasy legs and stumbled face forward.

He heard her making her fast, heavy movements; he turned around and reacted immediately when he saw her weak body fall. He practically jumped forward and grabbed her around the waist with too much strength for her little body, and he managed to accidentally open her already bleeding wounds again. His eyes opened wide at the stench of blood and the sight of the yukata being stained with the blood of the wound.

She was awe-struck by his fast paced reaction, and glad to have been saved a bruise to the head. With quivering arms, she put her hands on his arms to stead herself as she relocated her footing. The pain in her back was a severe stinging, and caused her to bite her lip to keep it from trembling as well. Eventually, she looked at him. And was taken aback at how close their faces were, once again. She could have smelled him, if she'd had the power to reach her neck out a bit, but his arms were keeping her firmly set where she was. His eyes, they were the quieriest things.

"H-hold on I'll take care of your wound." He sputtered, not used to being this close to a woman other than his mother. He gently helped her onto the futon once again so he could get some bandages and water.

'How could I have forgotten of her wound...? She won't have the strength to walk with that, and then she'll never leave!' But his human part of him was curious. It wanted to see how long she would be able to stay without him being bugged anymore. It wanted to feel companionship in any way.

'I'll get in trouble, she's trouble. She's a slave! How could she live here!?'

_'Why not?' _And he dropped his thoughts there. "I'll be back." He said leaving her once again.

'I am holding on..' she thought bogusly, unable to speak her mind, but the pain was quickly diverting her thought process. And when he placed her back to her original spot, and began to leave her again, she groaned, frustrated at not being able to keep up. She didn't like being alone. She'd spent plenty of time alone already, and this new care he was giving her, this kind and attentive care, was addicting. She wanted more of it.

He came back with a bucket of water and his roll of bandages. He constantly went out to demon territory to get a kick of fighting all the demons, he sometimes over did it and found himself with wounds that his hanyou self couldn't heal fast enough. He put the bucket down and kneeled down beside her laying form. "Can you sit up?" He asked not in a harsh tone, but in a hurried one.

She gave him a look like 'Why don't you make me,' and folded her arms together, over her chest and over the chord that held together her yukata. She wasn't just about to let him medicaly treat her, what if it became a malpractice!? And those sharp claws! She stared at them, obviously a little uncomfortable... But the pain continued, and eventually a sigh escaped her lips.

He sighed in annoyance at her childish behavior. "Come on now, you're in pain. Even I know that. Just get your ass up so I can wrap up your wound. This could be such a simple task if you just sat up already." He said slightly raising his voice, hoping she'd cooperate already.

She half glared at him, but what he said was true. Her back felt ablaze with pain, and soon enough she couldn't hold her stubborn act for the burning sensation running up and down her spine. She almost shot up, immediately regretted moving, and grabbed his sleeve as a 'rope' to pull herself up into a seated position. Her half glare did not subside as she began to gracefully and gently pull her yukata down from her shoulders.

He just realized she started to take her yukata down already. That would mean he would be looking at her naked chest. His blush came on so suddenly, he had to spurt out, "Wait!" He put his hand over her to stop it, face completely red of the sight he was going to see. "I-I'll do it from behind!" He squeaked, already taking advantage of looking at the revealed flesh of her shoulders." He scurried standing up and pulled his sleeve away from her grasp. He took his seat behind her. "Alright, you can...continue..."

One of her goals in life was to never go back into slavery, she had decided. And with this young man, she knew she could weave her way into never being sold again. His blush, his scurrying, his downright awkward self-control would be easy to manipulate. Once he'd sat down, she looked at him over her shoulder, ever so slightly, eyelids lowered, and began to slowly smooth the yukata off her back.

He helped her put down her yukata just enough so that he could work with streaming the bandage around her. He took the cloth he brought and dipped it in the bucket of water next to him, proceeding to clean the blood and puss off of her back. In a way, it way comforting. Cleansing the dirt and blood off of her terrible wound. There were many other scars scattering around the area as well. 'She won't have to deal with that anymore…'

Wait, how should he know? She's not staying here. No. NO. "Are you alright?" Making sure he wasn't dealing any pain on the poor thing.

'No, I'm not all right..' she thought, gritting her nice teeth as he medically attended to her. Though she knew the wound would be better after, it was a major pain going through the process of cleansing it. She held her breath and tightened her fists, her knuckles turning white. 'I'd better heal soon..' she thought sadly.

He had to look around to see her face to get any sort of answer dealing with the topic of her being in pain, although the first thing his manly eyes went to were her breasts that were revealed. His body reacted with instinct and he looked away and towards her face immediately. His face relaxed into a look of sadness as he realized how much pain he was doing by cleaning it. "I'll stop now, it should be clean enough." It was weird talking to something that didn't talk back.

"I'll start bandaging now..." He grabbed for the them and reached his arms around her to wrap it across her front, around to the back, and around again.

She could feel his eyes on her, forming a blush to creep into her cheeks. And when he finally spoke, she almost jumped. However, she was relieved to hear that he would stop making more pain in her wound. When he began bandaging, she guarded her breasts with her arms, forming a protective X over them and letting him know she didn't trust him for it. Her back, exposed, was chill and growing goosebumps. She hoped he wouldn't notice.

He finally finished bandaging her and was just tying it all to an end. "There, you should be alright now." He said in his normal tone. He sighed and stood up, gathering the unused bandages and the water to take out and dump.

She didn't say anything as she returned the yukata to her body. Waiting until he was out the door, she crept across the wooden floor, almost cat-like, and snuck into the other room. 'Time to explore..' she thought to herself, and no one else.


	5. Chapter 5

He poured the water to the ground and sighed holding the empty bucket. 'That was...' Intense. He couldn't find the word for it, but the feelings weren't unwanted. He ran his hand through his thick tresses groaning with confusion. His body had calmed down from all of the heat that he was witnessing in his body at the situation. He rubbed his hand up and down his arm calming himself down.

'Yeah...she has to go...' His eyes lowered. 'I can't have someone I can't talk to...but...'

His mind remembered the calmness and serenity of talking to someone, yet they couldn't talk back. Being able to say anything and they couldn't say anything back. They could only tell you in actions... 'Actions...heh...' He turned around and started walking back into the hut with bandages and bucket in hand.

In the next room, she found food packed, stored, and a few herbs in other boxes. 'What a tidy fellow..' she thought, 'especially for a demon.. Half demon..' she corrected. Oh, how she longed to hold his warm hand, be cuddled in his strong ar-- She cut herself off, mentally kicking herself. 'I've got to escape, because he can't be trusted... Who knows what could happen..' she thought, remembering their tenseness only moments before. But as she looked herself over, crawling around a floor in someone's hut, she thought sadly, 'I've no strength or energy to even lift myself off the ground.' She sighed, sitting and leaning against the wall, letting loose her yukata just a bit, for it was strangling her around the clavicle.

__

'Dammit! That woman…'

He came in to find that she had left her spot on the futon. She couldn't have ran away, he was just outside. 'Her scent is still strong in here...god damn…'

He set the bucket down next to teh door, as well as the bandages. The hut had 4 rooms in it. The main room, the storage room, a bedroom, and a place to relieve thyself of their normal bodily functions.((Bathroom)) He walked into the storage room, finding the little sneak sitting down against the wall. "Hey, you should really be getting rest, idiot." He spoke out to her. His eyes accidentally traveled down at her chest where a healthy amount of soft cleavage was showing itself. How many times was he going to blush today? His body acting a little too strongly for him to be comfortable for her to be looking at him, he turned to the side a little bit scratching his head, closing his eyes in frustration.

The girl, catching sight of the boy, gasped for she felt he knew she'd been trying to escape, which clearly was not the case. She froze, not quite sure what to do, and sort of smiled at him a little, like people do when they're trying to hide a secret of some sort. Uncertain, and trying to hide the fact that she HAD been trying to escape, she motioned her hand and patted the space beside her, asking him to sit beside her without the need to speak. For she could not.

This woman would not cease to surprise him. Here he was scolding her for not being in bed, and she just offers him a seat on the floor. Without thinking, he complied to her request, although he was looking the other way completely; not familiar with this closeness.

Happy to have a companion, she pulled her knees up to her chest, slowly for the pain of the movement. She sighed, but it was a happy, contented one, something she had not done since before her kidnapping. She wished she could talk to him, tell him her thoughts and ask him questions about himself, but alas words would not come. She turned to face him, puppy frowning with the idea that she'd never let him hear her voice. It was such a shame.

He heard her sigh and relaxed a little bit. He didn't want to be here, next to her, creating a familiar air with her.

'Hey, she's quiet. She won't bug you that much with all the silence.'

Could he? It's wrong, it's bad. He shouldn't have her here. He...could. But he won't. He won't let himself. Although it would be nice... He turned his head around to face her. "Look, you need to rest, you'll have more energy in the morning. So you need food, and you need rest. Come on." He stood up and offered a hand to help her up.

The girl looked at his hand for a moment before grasping it and letting him lift her off the ground, out of the seating position, and into a stand. She held on tightly, weak as she was, and let herself lean on him slightly. 'Even though I shouldn't..' she thought miserably, but her body wanted otherwise.

He put his arm around her for support getting back into the bedroom, passing the main room. 'I have to get her to eat.' He thought sternly. She had no energy, and he really wanted her to acknowledge that. "I was so stupid." He said outloud, enough for her to hear.

The girl enjoyed this all a little too much. Had she forgotten that nearly hours ago she had been a slave, ready for auctioning? No, she had not! But one can't let a happy moment go by without at least indulging in it, especially when all happy moments have fled your life since a certain abduction... He spoke. And she didn't understand why he called himself an idiot. She stepped in front of him, to fully face him, grabbing his arms and ducking under his face to see if he was all right, to make sure he was not depressed. Besides, how else was she to ask 'what's wrong?'?

Woah. Her being in front of him like that, holding onto his arms... It was weird for someone to do, and she had reacted to what he had said no doubt. He looked away and took her hands off of him. "Get off of me."

'She's getting used to me. She has to go... I can't keep her here.'

_'Why not?'_

'Because, she can't.'

_'Why?'_

'Because!'

_'Shouldn't you have a chance to be happy?'_

Happy? She is supposed to bring happiness?

The girl frowned, displeased with his reaction to her concern. 'Maybe I shouldn't even bother.. To do anything...' she thought numbly, standing in place of the space before him. Upon staring at his chest blankly, she came to realize that he was taller than her, by about five inches. She had to look up to see those golden eyes of his...

'Dammit stop staring at me with those eyes.' He mentally wanted to slap her for doing such a small but cute act. He looked her straight in the eyes with his stern glare; gazing at her cloudy greyish blue eyes. His gaze relaxed a little bit the more connected that he was getting, what he wanted to connect... He turned his eyes away and scoffed. "Let's hurry up and get you to bed already." He hurried on and walked a head of her.

She nodded, resigned to be obedient. She could tell that soon enough she wouldn't be able to stand alone like she was at the moment, so she hurriedly tiptoed after the boy. A thought occurred to her: 'If there's only one futon, and I'm going to sleep in it.... Where's he going to go?' It bewildered her.

He had finally gotten the woman to sit down and rest, but right now while he was awake, he should feed her. 'And get her some water.'

He looked at the ground at the fruit that had been smushed around the ground, for the exception of the apple. He went over and picked it up, rubbing the excess dirt off of it, and placed it next to her while he got up again. "I'm going to get you water, stay here and try to eat while I do." He commanded while walking out of the room.

The girl stared at the apple, hesitant in her actions. 'I'm... Really not hungry..' she thought, picking it up on her own. She examined it, the luster of it, the size and shape. Then she began to twist the twig tip while chanting the ABCs in her head. 'A-B-C-D-', a letter for every twist. Which ever letter the twig snapped on would be the first letter in her husband's name. 'But it's just a game..' she sighed, her thoughts heavy.

He brought a bucket of water back in with a ladle for her to sip from. While walking through the dark old hut, he couldn't keep himself from shivering for some reason. 'What was that?' He looked around and saw nothing, smelled nothing. He shook his head and blamed his mind for being too paranoid. But paranoid of what? How the hell should he know? He continued to where the woman lay, on his futon with the apple in her grasp.

She heard him come in. Looking up, her eyes caught sight of the water he'd brought back. 'What, I'm a sick person now?' she thought mockingly, annoyed that she was so weak and feeble. She dropped her hands, and the apple, into her lap, ceasing the A-B-C game. Sitting there, she looked rather soulless.

He laid the bucket right next to her while trying to avoid trying to seem like he'd purposely want to study her face more so. "I'd expect you to rest soon after you're done." He said. She should be tired, but all he saw in her was the excitement that was creeping into her eyes the more she looked at him. 'I'm not going to let her get to me.' He said to himself again, trying to assure himself. He saw down at her feet and had the sudden urge to talk to her more... 'Her silence...This silence...There should be more talking and conversation between two people.'

She shrugged, for body language is necessary with those who can't speak. She looked at him, twiddling her thumbs self-consciously. The air seemed to be buzzing, the kind of silence you can hear. She opened her mouth to say something, stopped, and closed it again with a frustrated growl. She stared at him hopelessly.


	6. Chapter 6

He couldn't take it any longer. He had to start some kind of conversation, even if it was by himself-like.

'Like talking to a brick wall.'

He coughed before he spoke, "I don't...think I'll take you in the village tomorrow." He didn't know what he was thinking.

"You're free from that fat ass now, I couldn't watch something as small as you get fucked up from that bastard...he smelled hella nasty." He looked at her in the midst of his talking, feeling awkward having to talk without someone else having a word in. "You'll be needing a bath too...but you're too weak to do anything."

He kind of felt comfortable talking to someone.

The girl smiled, glad that he agreed not to betray her into slavery once more. In fact, she was sparkling with happiness. In the dark recesses of her mind, she could remember the beatings, the chains, the harsh reality of it all. Hearing him say she'd be kept hidden made her feel safer than she had in weeks. Yet, his last words brought a blush to her face, one that grew considerably darker as it spread. Subconsciously, as she didn't realize she was doing it, her hands went protectively to her chest. She stared at him, frowning, clearly uncomfortable with the subject of him possibly helping her bathe.

He blinked questioningly at her slow movement of covering her chest. 'Why is she…' He went over what he just said to make sure she didn't say anything to, scare her?

'Village...bastard...bathing...weak…' His simpleton mind couldn't piece it together. "Oi, what are you so nervous about?" He snapped at her.

She flinched, his words reminding her of her former 'caretaker', for at the moment that's what this boy was. In an effort to clear away his anger, she smiled weakly, tugging her yukata around herself tightly; protectively. Her stomach betrayed her and gurgled a bit, certainly unhappy with the lack of nourishment. She glared down at her stomach, biting her tongue. 'But I'm really not hungry..' she thought. She spent the remainder of the time avoiding his eyes.

His hypersensitive hearing caught the gurgle of a stomach in need of food. "Why haven't you eaten..? You don't like that fruit?" He asked while looking at the fruit, and back to her.

'Maybe she doesn't like apples...' He sighed. 'Maybe it'll be better anyways if I started making supper.'

"I'm going to make some food, so you better eat it." He said, going into the storage room.

The girl watched him go, continuing to be blank. She wondered what he'd make, if he could let alone cook. 'Maybe he could use my help..' she thought, feebily rising to a stand and slowly walking after him, step by hesitant step. After all, she knew how to cook. Her mother had taught her well. Princess or not, a girl had to know these things.

He started picking ingredients from the storage room. He picked out a potato, some garlic...and rice...and some meat that he had stored from the rabbits... He picked them all up gathered in his arms as he head for the main room where the fire pitch was in. He then retrieved a pot and quickly filled it with water. When he came back inside, the woman was sitting right next where he put all the food. He felt like pouring all of the water on her freaking head. He glared at her, oh so glared at her. He almost said something too. But she was so damn stubborn. Just so damn stubborn.

'For a slave that I just saved, she sure is...is...UGH!' He set the pot over the metal above the place where he was supposed to start a fire, and gave her an up-close glare burning with the fire that he was about to set a flame under the pot.

The girl was assembling the ingredients he'd placed on the floor by vegetable and by not vegetable. What more could she do when she didn't know where to find knives or other such commodities? He returned and placed the pot in the fire pit thingy.

'Why does he glare at me so?' she asked herself, pitching him a confused, weirded-out look. 'I'm here to help you, fool,' she growled in her mind.

'After all, who knows what you'd try to put in this if I didn't keep an eye over it.' Snobbishly, she lifted her head and sat up straight, cleaning one of the potatoes with the end of her yukata sleeve. She did this while looking at him through the corner of her eyes.

'Strange one, he is...' she added, though he wouldn't have known. 'Saving me from death and cleaning my wounds one minute, glaring at me the next..' And then she realized.

'I'm... Not wanted here..' she thought, the realism now hitting her as she stared fully at his face. It was true that he hadn't smiled at all while she was there, not even once. She also figured that he was doing more than his ordinary schedule, caring for her like she was a sick lamb. Her mouth opened slightly, her eyes now sad as she grew more disappointed with herself. 'I shouldn't be bothering him..' She put the potato back on the floor and picked herself up off the ground. She wasn't really sure what to do, but considered the better objective; thanking him. Bowing her head down to her knee area gracefully ( and with a regal air about her), she straightened after a moment and walked into the other room. 'Oh, but I don't know this area very well..' she sighed, thinking about where she could go and how she would manage.

When the woman suddenly rose up and bowed towards him... He was downright fucking confused. What was she doing that for?

'Keh, at least she's out of the way.' He looked down at all of the ingredients and realized something. "...shit!" He said face palming himself. He forgot to get herbs from the village, and the soup would taste terrible without it. Truth be told, he didn't know how to cook very well. And herbs made the cooking much more better. "Where the fuck am I supposed to get the herbs...damn..." He sighed looking into the area where the next room was. He really wanted to impress her with him cooking... Wait, why would he want to do that?

'Well, you've been alone for all of these years living with no one, comparing with no one, showing no one what you can do for them how great you are...No one knows.'

'No one needs to know but me-'

"Uggh!" He threw a potato at the wall. It squished on impact. He didn't know what to think anymore. Should he keep the girl? He wanted to. My god he wanted to.

The girl kneeled on the still layed out futon. She took her tattered clothing, folded it, and snuggly tucked it into her chest/yukata area. That secret bosom pocket. She stood again, and then spotted that apple on the floor. 'Well he did offer it to me..' she thought as she picked it up. 'This'll do, I guess. For now, at least... I'll have to get a job or something..' She smiled wryly to herself.

He started the fire and waited for it to boil. He was cutting the potatoes and cutting the meat and cutting the garlic. God damn he was pissed, and confused, and frustrated, and angry, and and... The water was boiling. He put in the garlic. Followed by the potatoes. 'They usually take a while to cook...' He let it boil while getting up, he would add the meat later. He sighed and walked outside into the fresh air. He sat underneath a tree that had an axe sitting right next to it. 'I was going to cut more wood today...' He usually had nothing better to do. Other than run. And kill. And think.

'That woman...why..Why would I want to keep her? For her company? She can't even speak...but she listens.' Oh how she listens.

The girl rose and thought, about what it was she wanted to do, for a while. She decided she'd ask... 'Try..' she corrected. Try to asked him if she could spend the night. It was getting rather dark outside, and a girl who didn't even know where she was had an impossible amount of danger ahead of her with the dark of the night. She went into the cookpot room, but he wasn't there. 'Where could he have gone..' she asked herself, holding her chin Sherlock-Holmes style. She was not about to call him out.

'I don't even know his name!' she cried in her mind, distressed at the thought of even speaking. It scared her, and she'd lost the ability to freely converse with others since her abduction. However, she needed to find him to confirm 'sleeping-over' permission. She decided to take the metal pot's spoon/laddle thing and began hitting the side of the pot lightly, making a 'ding-ding' sound. She repeated this two or three times 'He has dog ears. He can hear it well enough, I'm sure. Wherever he is..' she thought as she waited for him to show up his face.

He was almost asleep. The light sweet scent of the crisp cold air had led him into a swirling spell of the coming night sky. He would have surrendered into the shuddering peace, but a sudden yank on his earstrings pulled him out and up to the world. 'That woman..' he relaxed a bit, angrily walking into the hut, disturbed. He saw her with ladle in hand banging on the boiling pot, ready for meat. Ignoring her confusing antics, he quickly picked up the meat and threw it in the pot while putting the lid over it. "Shit!" He cursed. How long had he been out there? He sighed and looked at the woman with the ladle. "What'd'you want!?" He snapped for no apparent reason.

She looked taken aback, now losing her confidence in his aggression. She scratched her arm awkwardly, looking to the sides of the hut, then returning her gaze to his eyes. She reached forward to grab his haori. 'You have to understand..!' she was thinking desperately.

He did not know what the fuck she was trying to say to him. "Dinner will be ready soon!...Ow! Why are you tugging so hard!?" He pushed her off of him with an all confusing look, it wasn't angry or anything. Just, it was hard to understand the one who could not speak. "Look, if you want to get some fresh air you could go out if you wanna." He said as he tapped his foot.

She made a small growling sound, deep in her throat. 'You moron! I'm trying to talk to you!' but he could not hear what was thought. Suddenly an idea smacked her in the face. Taking hold of his sleeve once more, she walked outside the hut, dragging him behind her. Once outside, she began looking for a stick. 'I'll write what I want to say..' she thought, grinning cleverly.

He let her lead him, for he understood she could say no words. "Hey, what are you doing?" He asked in his normal, grufflike voice. She stopped and grabbed a stick, moving it along the ground. 'She's trying to speak to me with...?'

The girl, having taken hold of a lone stick, began scrawling in the dirt some japaneseness. It spelled 'Kagome'. She then turned to the boy and, while smiling, pointed to herself. 'Do you get it?' she wondered.

He blinked at the symbols, the words. "Kaa..goo...me...Kagome." He looked at her as she pointed to herself. He looked at the ground again, and back at her. "That's what you're called...?" 'Her name?'

She could have laughed with joy, but instead she nodded. And smiled. And almost gave him a hug, because it was the first time she'd "spoken" in weeks. Except she hadn't said anything at all. But his understanding made her happy. And she hesitated, therefore she didn't hug him. But she was still happy.

"Kagome...hmm." 'Should I call her by her name?' Was he going to..kee- Keep. Her. He screwed up. He's going to call her Kagome. "Kagome, come on. The food's almost ready." he said before turning around and went back into the hut to dish. Kagome skipped merrily after the dog boy, or what you would call skipping, were it not for her pains and bruises. But they went inside the hut and it was warmer than it was outside. And the food was ready, which was a relief to her since she hadn't eaten since yesterday. Since her former 'care-taker' was a 'bad man'. She sighed at the memory.


	7. Chapter 7

While she slept in his futon, he had escaped outside, although feeling guilty about leaving her alone. He looked around the area and the super thick and tall forest around him. No one will know, and no one will find out about this. She's not anything special. Just a slave as anyone is concerned.

The area was very dark, black dark with only the rays of the moon through the trees shining on his glowing silver hair and his golden eyes. He looked towards the hut window where his room was located, where the girl was. "Ka...gome."

Kagome was having problems sleeping. The futon was fine and all, but she was rather chilly and.... And didn't like being alone. Especially in the dark she found herself immersed by. She quietly whimpered to herself, for she could not put her emptiness into words. The only light came from the small window, the moon's glow especially full and eerie. She glanced up, through it, to see a shadow... 'Not a shadow,' she thought to herself, squinting. It was the boy.

He sighed as he could see the faint smoke of his frozen breath. Oh what to do...what to do

He still had a lot of things he needed to do for her, since he...he...was keeping her under his wing. He closed his eyes as he thought of the girl. So silent, erie like...but she's so full of energy... It's always so boring here anyways, no one will care for her..., except me. He didn't know what possesed him to think these things, maybe because the moon was full. Or the crisp air without wind made him want to hear his own clear thoughts. He didn't know if he was lying to himself anyone, he didn't want to cause friction against his thoughts anymore. He just wanted to breathe.

Hesitantly, she brought herself to her feet, and came to the window. She folded her arms against the frame, leaning her tired head against said arms. She sighed again, staring up at the boy she barely knew, yet was spending the night in his house.

'Oh, but he's had to go outside because of me..' she frowned in a dream-like state, somewhat tired, somewhat awake. Well, no, she was pretty much fully awake, but she couldn't help it. She didn't like sleeping in an unknown room all alone. Like she was now. 'Maybe I can get him to come back?' she thought, suddenly perking up at the idea. 'But.. B-But I can't speak,' she growled, biting her lip callously. She gripped her fists, unhappy at feeling useless.

Inuyasha went ahead and sat down at the trunk of the three, he could've gone inside to sleep, there was room in the living room...but the freeness and pureness of outside was too comfortable to give up. He looked up into the sky as the stars sparkled like the tears of the moon. This would be his last night of loneliness.

'Maybe he wouldn't mind if I joined him, seeing as I can't sleep anyhow..' she rationalized, stepping out of the hut and into the colder, clean air. She inhaled deeply before beginning to walk towards him. The moon was awestriking tonight.

He took in the freshness of the air and reflected on his life, years upon years of no one, thrown out as a pup to live on his own. Wait. The woman, her scent was getting stronger. He lifted up his head and saw her, approaching him. Her small figure was emphasized by the moonlight, and her unkept hair was wild. Looking like a lost maiden... "Ka...gome?"

Her face lit up when she realized he had spoken her name. She nodded, unsure if he could even see her, but the moon's brightness was strong in the sky, so it wasn't that hard for her to find him.

"...."

She wanted to speak, but was unable. Yet she did not want to speak, for she was afraid what miseries it would bring for her. Like the cracking of a whip, or the jingling of trade money. Maybe a blow to the back of the head, and then waking up in chains? She didn't want that. She didn't want any of that, and was most determined to never reenter such circumstances ever again.

She waved to the boy.

He sighed and laced his fingers through the front of his hair. Damn woman He looked back up at her, "Oi, wench...you should be in bed getting some damn rest." He said in a lazy tone, not really caring where she was as long as he knew where she was. He groaned and pushed himself off the tree in order to stand up, and maybe have a comfortable conversation with her...or more like, at her.

'I can't sleep..' she thought, closing her eyes somewhat frustrated. Maybe she could find another stick and... 'Ha ha,' she laughed at herself silently, folding her arms uncomfortably. 'That would take too much time anyway,' and with that, she dismissed the thought. She sighed, obviously getting no where with her mind battles and voice struggles. Instead, she nodded at him blankly, and then stiffly turned to retreat into his hut.

He blinked at her retreating back, she came out just to say hi? At night? When she should be sleeping? What the fuck...? "H-Hey!" he called after her, walking towards her.

The girl stopped mid step, glancing over her shoulder at the boy who, presently, was calling out to her. She tilted her head, questioningly; she could not say anything, body language was her voice. She waited, turning more to face him each minute.

"Uuhhh..." He tried o figure out what he wanted to say. Or ask her. Or something. "Hrrmm.." He scratched the back of his head looking elsewhere so he wouldn't look awkward looking at her. "Well, are you still hungry? Or can't you go to sleep?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

Kagome stared at him for a moment, listening to him talk. Ask her questions. Watching him scratch his head. She held up her hand before her, making a peace sign.

'The second option, if you must know..' she said, her mind growing tired and her shoulders slouching a bit.

She'd had a long day, for sure.

He blinked at her putting her fingers up, a sign that she was actually a normal human being that understood everything he said.

"T-two?..Oh the second one...can't sleep...Hmm."

Okay, what was he going to do about that? Should he just let her stay awake and let her have her freedom as the woman she was or treat her like a child and get her into bed? Fuck it, leave her be.

"Do you need anything?" He asked before he himself would be snoozing off soon.

She stared at him, her gray/blue eyes boring into his soul. Or so it seemed. 'I.. I...' she thought about what she needed, for nothing was coming up. But the answer came to her. 'I need to leave and return home.'

To him, she shook her head and turned back towards the hut.

He sighed and frowned at her back. It was going to be hard trying to get used to talking to someone that couldn't speak, what if she was in trouble and could not yell out in terror? How could she tell him who she really was aside from her name? Would he treat her as a slave as she had been? What else could she be used for?

We'll see

He sat back down against the bark of the tree he was at previously and watched as the fireflies danced around each other in the shades of pure darkness and the luminous rays of the moon played out their stage. 


	8. Chapter 8

**::First I would like to apologize for the weird format of this story. (It was a roleplay! I honestly haven t been changing anything we've done)**  
**Second, I would like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed!**  
**At a certain point of the roleplay, my friend and I started using iscribble to roleplay this story. So later on the chapters may be even LONGER too update since either her or I would have to write it all, and in all honesty she's the better writer. (She s Kagome. XD I m Inuwasha. . 3. ) I m trying a little bit to change some things around so they don t sound so out of place and awkward on my part. I m not a very great roleplayer. w Please review! The more reviews the more likely I'll feel like writing that later part out ::  
**

The sun was just beginning to break through the dawn mist as the clouds of night slunk away. A flock of geese flew overhead, bound for Canada; their homeland. A sleeping girl lay comfortably beneath the sheets of a boy's futon. Said boy was nowhere to be found in the hut, and this girl was untouched. Her arms were bent above her head, lying on the futon pillow block. The ribbon that held her yukata was slightly loose, allowing more skin to show than usual. The blanket was a mess about her, covering and not covering her body. She didn't know. She didn't care. She was asleep still, the sun's rays slowly peeking through the window.

Inuyasha had gotten up early, as usual. It was the starting of fall, and he needed to cut more wood so he would be able to stay warm through the season and the next. He never really needed to cut a lot, since he could stand the cold. But for some reason today, he wanted to cut mountain-loads.

The sound of chop after chop sliced through the sound barrier as he did the job with great speed and grace. He had let his red hoari fall around his body as it was still tucked into his sash of his hakama while his white yukata still was worn as it was supposed to. He wiped his brow and took a breather after a while. He turned and looked toward the hut, wondering...

"Is she up yet?"

It was still pretty early, but for some reason he strongly wanted to check to see if she was even still there.

The girl, dreaming of her previous endurances, was caught in her nightmares. Her body was twitching, her hands forming fists and then relaxing. Her face remained that of a peaceful sleeper, but eventually a sweat grew about her chest and face. She awoke in tears.

His nose twitched as he was bending over right next to a stream filling his bamboo canteen of water. Salt...water...tears? He stood up straight and looked to the direction of the hut.  
Her tears. Shit! Did something happen!? Did the slave master find her!? He jumped off and ran as fast as he could, whizzing past the trees in the shadows, while the light of day was shining above. He was coming up at the hut and noticed that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Except for her smell of tears. He jogged inside into find the woman, sitting up , sobbing while gripping the blanket she had at her sides with her delicate, pale hands. Her yukata was showing a pretty sight of her skin, and her face was red beat red, her eyes wet making her lashes thicker and heavy. Never had Inuyasha thought a woman could look so beautiful. And this woman was in his home, in his bed.

Kagome, upon noticing she had a visitor, made herself busy by turning away and brushing her tears with the sleeves of her yukata. The motion of hiding from his gaze pained her back wound a bit, but she was already so embarrassed. She hadn't wanted him to see her like this. But he had. And he was still. Her face grew a darker red, her face was so hot. She wanted to flee, but had nowhere to go with him in the doorway.

He had a strong urge, an instinct to run over to her and embrace her. To tell her that he would be taking care of her for now on, to make her relax, to touch her wonderfully attractive blushing skin... His face blushed up, but he didn't look away from her. She was acting really cute the way she was rubbing her eyes, how she was avoiding his gaze...like a lost little child. He stepped forward, and another step. Slowly closing in on the distance. Mysterious.

She could hear him coming closer. Silently she wished he'd leave. She didn't want to be seen in her moment of distress. 'It was just a nightmare...... Many nightmares..' she corrected her thoughts, more tears sliding down her cheeks as she remembered the terrors. She wiped them away, trying to seem casual in her actions.

She knew it was obvious. Why else would he have come to her? She closed her eyes and held her breath, trying to be as quiet, as inconspicuous as rightly possible. Her hands held her eyes as she touched her forehead to the wall. 'Don't...' she whispered. But he couldn't hear her.

He stopped in front of her, examining her form. She looked so fragile...he would do anything to keep anything from breaking her. Even though she might have been slightly broken already. Who knows what people do to their slaves...but she seemed to be taken terribly. She can't even speak...would she be able to speak ever again? Again, he had the strongest urge to protect her, to hold her right now. Because she would be his. But he barely knew her. Why would he make the decision to make a random woman his woman? He decided he should take this slower than he wanted to. "I'll make some breakfast now...you should take a bath when you're done. I expect you to eat, you know." He said turning away from her. Expecting some kind of response.

She quickly exhaled, having run out of air. She sat there gasping, gasps that slowly turned into small breaths. She hiccuped, despite her efforts to stop crying. 'Don't think about it. Just breathe.. Don't think about it..' Memories welled up. She shivered, hugging herself fervently. 'Don't think about it..' The cracking of a whip that echoed her fading dreams. 'Just breathe..' Her eyes were tightly shut, concentrating on keeping calm. 'It's all right now.. You're better.. You're...'

Last night he had picked up a few herbs, so breakfast might be enjoyable. He got more potatoes and put a stick threw a few and roasted them over the fire while he made a paste of herbs he would slab on them as them cooked. He even had some eggs he had bought and made scrambled eggs while adding in mushrooms and more herbs to it. Once the potatoes were done, he had cut them into bite sized pieced and put them all on a plate with a piece of bread. Even while doing all of this, he heard the woman; Kagome. Her breathing was one of someone who was scared, was she scared of him? He thought that all of his hospitality would had proved to her he was nothing to be feared.

I guess as a slave, she can't help it, he thought sadly, wanting this woman to understand he wasn t some kind of monster. He carried the food into the room and put the plate next to her. "One sec, I'm going to get you some water." And he rushed right out without a look at her.

She had managed to calm down. Her face was back to its normal shade of color. Her eyes were a little red, but that was to be expected. She looked at the plate, turning from her kneel against the wall. 'What's this..?' she thought, somewhat confused. She looked outside.

'Oh. It's morning. That's right..' She wondered if he would eat with her, so she waited for his return, trying to make her eyes look normal.

He brought the bucket and set it next to her. He looked at her and the untouched plate. "You have to eat you know, because we're not going to do anything else." He said to her, sitting next to her. Kind of weird to say, but he honestly had nothing better to do.

She didn't know how to talk to him. She wanted to ask if he'd already eaten, but she couldn't. She didn't know sign language because she'd never had need of it. She wasn't deaf, she heard things just fine. She sighed, letting go of her complex thoughts and picked up the plate. It smelled nice, what he had prepared. She looked at him again and got an idea. Soundlessly (of course) she pointed to the plate, then to herself and then to him.

He blinked, not sure what she was trying to say. "You eat, I eat? Huh?"

She nodded, picking up the chopsticks and digging around the plate. She took a potato piece and put it towards his lips, smiling.

She wants me to eat? He opened his mouth and leaned forward and closed his mouth over the piece, chewing on it. "Chee? Ish nawt poushun," he spoke with his mouth full. He gulped it down and stared at her now.

"You need to eat it, not me. You're the weak one, remember: when you eat most of that you can have your most needed bath. Damn, it must feel really uncomfortable sleeping and walking around with all that dirt and blood everywhere on you. You should consider yourself lucky that someone is willing to put enough thought into doing this for you..."  
And he kept rambling on.

'Oh he's right! I must smell awfull,' and with that thought, she ate quickly. Tried to eat quickly. She'd have her plate cleaned in no time. 'How long has it been since I.. had a bath?' and she lost herself in remembering how nice it was. How clean it was. She finished eating.

"See? Don't you feel better now?" He said, amazed she had chomped it down. He stood up and stretched his arms. "Alriggghht! Now I'll go get you some clothes, wait outside for me." He bounced out of the room with an eagerness that he didn't notice.

She watched him leave, getting to her feet herself. 'He said to meet him outside,' she thought, reaching a stand and stepping out the enclosure. She was happy to get cleaned, and more than ready for it. She wondered how many days had passed since the last time.

'Slaves aren't meant for luxury,' in her mind echoed the words of a gruff man. She shivered, casting the thought away.

He brought another clean yukata for her to change into when she would be done bathing. He met her outside, and urged her behind his house. "Follow me." He walked on, expecting that she would follow him. Behind his home, a few yards away, there was a small, usable hot spring.

She looked at him a moment as he was walking away before following. She was excited to get clean. Yet she questioned herself. 'Why's he being nice? I practically dive-bombed into his life. I'm sure he never wanted to take care of.. Someone like me... Especially when I should take care of myself,' she added bitterly, chewing her lip.

He left the yukata on a smooth boulder barely covered with moss and started to make his way back out of the tree surrounding enclove.

"If you're in danger just scre-....oooh..." He stood there awkwardly.

"Uhm. Well, don't worry about it. I can smell something a mile away. Oh but the humidity here makes it hard to sniff things out...uhhh..."

He blushed in embarrassment at rambling on about these things. "You should be alright, no one comes by this part of the forest." They shouldn't anyways. And he turned around, feeling tense and worrysome about leaving the fragile and defenseless woman to herself.

She giggled to herself. 'As if I could scream,' she thought sadly. She removed her yukata and dipped her feet into the water. It was a nice, sizzling temperature. Already she was relaxing into it as she went in further.

She sighed happily, letting the water absorb into her skin. 'It's been too long...' she thought, smiling.

He ran around the area of the thick trees, dodging the spiked branches and soaring into the sky into the massive brush above, landing on a branch on the soles of his feet. Inuyasha moved some brush away so he can keep an eye on the figure through the heavy, humid mist in the air. It was so thick it stuck most of his clothes to his hot skin. This way I'll be able to keep an eye on her just in case someone or something tries to attack her. He thought dimly as he Tom Peeked at the woman below.

She ducked underneathe the water's surface and scrubbed her body free of dirt and uncleanliness. It felt so good to be in the hot spring. She never wanted to leave it. But she remembered the boy who was taking care of her and knew he was waiting for her to be done soon.

She resurfaced, breathing the fresh air deeply. 'Soo relaxing~' she thought.

He couldn't see the details of the woman's features from where he was crouching, just far and close enough to see if there would be anything or anyone there to harm her. He always looked closely when she ducked underneath the water, making sure she wouldn't drown. But after a while, be begun to question if he would be able to see efficiently if she would be in any danger from where he was at. He moved a tree downwards and closewards. Over time, he got close enough to be able to clearly see what part of her was and wasn't underwater. He blushed when he'd see something he shouldn't be seeing appear above the water.

She leaned her head back against the warm rocks surrounding her, enclosing her pool of hot spring water. Steam seemed to be evaporating into the air. She realized, while looking at her pruning fingers, that she'd stayed inside the water too long. 'I should get out now,' she thought, standing.

She regretted this, for a cool breeze made her shiver. 'Now where is that yukata..?'

He had leaned in too far into trying to get a good peek and her and made the mistake of falling forward into the ground. Shit! He landed with the sound of snapping twigs and crushing leaves.

What was that sound she'd heard? Did she imagine it? She had jumped from the unexpectancy, but surely.. There was something.. What had the dog boy said about screaming for help? 'Oh, but I can't..' she remembered, glaring at the hot springs.

And then she remembered that she was actually naked and that there was someone or something... A peeper, no doubt.

He got up immediately and ran off back towards the hut.

' Oh my god that was embarrassing...what would she have thought if she saw me peeking? Well I was only trying to look out for her...' Or at least, told himself he was only just looking out for her.  
He sighed and got back to the hut. He went inside trying to think of something other than his embarrassment, like making food. She decided it was time to get out, because she'd been in there long enough, and long enough was more than enough for her.

She dried off her body before equiping the garment he had given her. It was warm in the evening breeze, and she began to make her way back to the hut.

Shelter.

She wondered when she'd find home.

Her real one.

**::Haha! Gave you a long one this time! /doesn't feel bad that she forgot to update this story:: .**


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